Carton closer and sealer



| Oct. 22, 1968 R. L. BENINGER ETAI- 3,496,495

I i CARTON CLOSER AND SEALER Filed Jan. 24, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 SOURCEOF AIR UNDER PRESSURE INVENTORS 0berf Z flan/hygr- /-/erbe/'/ H Weber Mama, wgnw, W

BY ATTORNEYS Get. 22, 1968 BENlNGER Er AL 3,406,495

CARTON CLOSER AND SEALER Filed Jan. 24. 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIGS wag 5N v I; N TO Rs gob e/"I L Bemnger Her-barf H Wfbr M M, W} h v BY AT TORNEYS Oct. 22, 1968 BEMNGER ET'AL I 3,406,495

CARTON CLOSER AND SEALER Filed Jan. 24, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTQRSI @oer/ Z. fiexy/fiyer' BY ATTORNEYS United States Patent "ice 3,406,495CARTON CLOSER AND SEALER Robert L. Beninger and Herbert H. Weber,Sheboygan, Wis., assignors to H. G. Weber and Company, Inc., acorporation of Wisconsin Filed Jan. 24, 1966, Ser. No. 522,636 7 Claims.(Cl. 53374) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Carton sealer and closer in whichcartons having adhesive applied to their flaps are successively suppliedto a compression column and the flaps are closed by air or mechanicalclosures, as supplied to the column, and are lowered by a hydrauliccylinder and piston. The weight of the cartons in the column as passedin a downward direction serves to bond the adhesive so the cartons areejected from the bottom of the column in a fully sealed condition.

Summary 0] the invention and objects In accordance with the principlesof the present invention, there is provided a vertical guide forconfining a succession of cartons in a vertical stack, a vertical pistonlocated at the bottom of the stack for supporting and for lowering theentire stack by a distance approximately equal to the height of onecarton to place the lowermost carton in a discharge position and ahorizontal piston for discharging the lowermost carton from suchdischarge position where the cartons supplied to the top of the stackhave closure flaps with freshly applied adhesive. Air under pressure isdirected toward the top of the stack so that such closure flaps aremoved into a closed position. As a result, a succession of cartonshaving closure fiaps in an open position with freshly applied adhesiveare loaded into a vertical chamber at the top thereof and are removedone at a time in a sealed condition with the closure flaps in a closedposition from the bottom of the vertical chamber by means of the twopistons. The cartons, therefore, pass through the vertical chamber in adownward direction so that the weight of the cartons above any givencarton facilitates the creation of a bond between the panels and thegiven carton itself by means of the adhesive applied thereto.

It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provideimproved article-conveying apparatus and method.

It is another object of the present invention to providearticle-conveying apparatus and method capable of efficiently sealingthe closure members of articles such as cartons.

Still another object of the present invention is to providearticle-conveying apparatus and method for conveying a succession ofarticles from a first position to a second position which issubstantially lower than the first position.

Yet another object of the present invention is to providearticel-conveying apparatus and method for efficiently and rapidlysealing a succession of articles.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will beapparent from the following detailed description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of an article conveyingand stacking apparatus constructed in accordance with the principles ofthe present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged diagrammatic view of the upper portion of thearticle stacking and conveying apparatus shown in FIGURE 1, illustratinga form of removable lowering device for the articles;

3,406,495 Patented Oct. 22, 19 68 FIGURE 3 is a side view of a couplerfor a platform of the removable lowering device shown in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view of the coupler as shown in FIGURE3;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the coupler shown in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 6 is a side elevational view of a modified form of a platformvertical elevating cylinder from that shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 7 is a plan view of a modified form of horizontal cylinder andplatform from that shown in FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 8 is a diagrammatic view in perspective of the upper portion ofthe article conveyor apparatus and stacker guide, illustrating amodified device for initially moving the catron closure flaps towardclosed positions; and

FIGURES 9 to 13 are plan views of the article conveyor apparatus withthe modified flap closure devices shown in FIGURE 8, in varioussuccessive stages of op eration.

Description of the method of sealing cartons Referring now to FIGURE 1,a method of sealing cartons is illustrated in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention. Each of a succession of cartons orsimilar articles are shown as having a pair of members or closure flapsintegrally connected to a corresponding carton. The closure flaps havefreshly applied adhesive thereon. Thereupon, each of the closure flapsis moved into a closed position against the carton so that a bond isformed between the flap and the carton as a result of the freshlyapplied adhesive therebetween.

Thereupon, each of the cartons is stacked in a vertical,

position. The weight of each carton creates a pressure upon sub-adjacentcartons to facilitate the creation of the bond between each flap and itscorresponding carton. Next, the lowermost carton is moved away from thestack so that the next lowermost carton moves downwardly a distanceapproximately equal to the height of a single carton.

Another carton is then sequentially added to the top of the stack inorder that the number of cartons in the stack is maintained constant.Consequently, a series of cartons are continuously added to the top ofthe stack and the lowermost carton is removed from the stack so thateach carton bears the weight of the entire stack of cartons during atleast one interval of time for facilitating the creation of the bondbetween each flap closure and its corresponding carton.

Description of the vertical carton sealer 0 FIGURE 1 Referring to thevertical carton sealer of FIGURE 1, there is illustrated a conveyor beltsystem generally indicated at 10 for conveying a series of cartons suchas carton 11. Each of the cartons has a pair of closure flaps 12integrally connected thereto and having freshly applied adhesivethereon.

Each carton is transported to a compression column 13 via the conveyorbelt system 10. Thereupon, the stop 14 is released and the carton entersthe compression column 13. As a carton enters the compression column 13,air jets 16 which are connected to a source of air under pressure 17causes jets of air to close the flaps associated with each carton intoclose contact with the carton simultaneously with the release of cartonstop 14. Once a carton leaves the conveyor system 10 and enters thecompression column 13, the carton then engages an actuator switch 18.The actuator switch 18 is a limit switch that senses the presence of acarton. The source of air under pressure is responsive to the actuatorswitch 18 and is turned off once a carton contacts the actuator switch18.

A lowering cylinder 19 has a platform 21 connected thereto forsupporting the stack of cartons. This lowering cylinder 19 is alsoresponsive to the actuator switch 18 to lower the entire stack by adistance approximately corresponding to the height of one carton. Alowermost carton is therefore moved into a discharge position restingupon a plurality of rollers such as rollers 22. As the lowermost cartonrests upon the plurality of rollers, it engages :actuator switch 23. Atransfer cylinder 24 oriented in a horizontal position is responsive toswitch 23 being actuated. Thereupon, transfer cylinder 24 having aplatform 26 connected thereto forces the lowermost carton along theplurality of rollers away from the bottom of the stack and onto anotherconveyor belt system generally indicated at 27. As the platform 26 movestoward the left or right, the tail 29, connected at right angles to theplatform 26, provides a support for the entire stack.

The platform 26 engages another actuator switch 28, once the platform 26has reached a terminal position. The discharge cylinder 24 causes theplatform 26 to retract in response to the actuator switch 28 beingactuated by the platform 26. Thereupon, the platfonm 26 is retracted.

As the platform 26 is being retracted by the discharge cylinder 24, thetail 29 engages an actuator switch 31. The retraction is stopped inresponse to the actuation of actuator switch 31; and simultaneouslytherewith lowering cylinder 19 causes platform 21 to be raised into asupporting position against the next carton, also in response to theactuator switch 31. In this semi-retracted position, the tail 29supports the entire stack of cartons until the platform 21 engages thebottom surface of the next carton. The width of platform 21 is less thanthe width of each of the cartons to allow space for the tail 29 tosupport the stack simultaneously with the platform 21.

Once the platform 21 engages the bottom surface of the next carton, anactuator switch 32 senses the presence thereof. As a result, dischargecylinder 24 responds to actuator switch 32 to retract platform 26 into afully retracted position. In this position, the tail 29 engages actuatorswitch 33 which in turn initiates the cycle once again.

A carton is always located in a ready condition on the conveyor beltsystem in order that it can be added to the top of the stack. Thisprepared condition does not affect the lowering cylinder 19 in anymanner. The stop 14 is released to enable another carton to enter thecompression cylinder 13 in response to the actuation of actuator switch33 and also actuator switch 18 being in a norrnal condition.

The lowering cylinder 19 and its platform 21 is usually located awayfrom the longitudinal centerline, and is usually located :at the centerof gravity of the particular carton and material contained therein.Also, the compression column 13 is adjustable for length, width anddepth of various cartons, and the discharge cylinder 24 is adjustable insuch a manner that the platform 26 and tail support 29 is always at theshear line between a carton to be discharged and the bottom of the nextcarton.

The infeed height is also adjustable in view of the fact that the top ofthe carton in the column 13 must be several inches below the infeedheight, when a new carton is to be added, and this carton height iscontrolled by multiples of the height of the cartons being sealed plusfactors of humidity, carton tolerances, etc.

Description of the initial-loading means of FIGURES 2-5 Referring now toFIGURE 2, an enlarged view of the top portion of the vertical column orguide 13 is illustrated. A platform comprising several support members,such as support member 34, is provided for supporting a lower-mostcarton of a stack for initially loading the vertical column 13 with astack of cartons. The support member 34 is suspended from a pulleymechanism 36 via a cable 37. The pulley mechanism 36 is controlled by anelectrical motor or by a manually-operated crank to unwind the cable 37from the pulley mechanism 36 to lower the supporting members and therebythe stack of cartons as each carton enters the vertical guide 13 fromthe conveyor system 10. Once thelowermost carton reaches the bottom ofthe vertical column 13, the supporting members and their associatedcables are removed and the method as described above then commences.

Referring now to FIGURE 3, a removable coupler is illustrated forreleasing the support members. The supporting member 34 has a slottedend portion 38 which releasably engages a pinion 39. The pinion 39 isrigidly connected to a coupling member 41 for holding the supportingmember 34 in position. A fastening member 42 is attached to the couplingmember 41 so that the cable 37, as shown in FIGURE 2, can be connectedto the aperture 43 at the upper end thereof.

Therefore, the supporting member 34 can be removed from the bottom ofthe stack of cartons by moving the end portion 38 in an upward directionto free the notched portion thereof from the pinion 39 to therebyrelease the supporting member 34 from the coupler 41.

Referring now to FIGURE.4, it is clearly shown that the notched endportion 38 is substantially U-shaped. Therefore, the U-shaped endportion 38 engages the cou pler 41 on either side thereof to engage bothends of the pinion 39.

Referring to FIGURE 5, it can be seen from a plan view of this couplingarrangement that the member 42 is circular in cross-section. Also, theslotted end portions 38 are mounted on each side of the terminal end ofthe supporting member 34.

Description of carton sealer of FIGURES 6 and 7 Referring now to FIGURE6, a modified form of the vertical cylinder and platform 21, as shown inFIGURE 1, is illustrated. A base 44 is rigidly connected to the verticalcylinder 19. Furthermore, a plurality of spaced-apart members such asmember 46 are connected to the base 44. The free ends of thespaced-apart members engage the bottom surface of the lowermost cartonfor supporting the stack of cartons.

The spaced-apart members are moved upward to engage the lowermost cartonand in so doing pass through a plurality of spaced-apart members, suchas member 47, which are associated with a similar arrangement for thehorizontal cylinder 24. The horizontal cylinder can discharge thelowermost carton from the discharge position and simultaneouslytherewith the spaced-apart members 46 associated with the verticalcylinder 19 can move upwardly through the spaced-apart members of thehorizontal piston 24 in an interleaved manner. Therefore, the piston inthe vertical cylinder 19 can be moving upwardly as the piston in thehorizontal cylinder 24 is retracting, which thereby causes a moreefiicient and rapid operation.

The length of the spaced-apart members associated with the verticalcylinder 19 is greater than the width of the spaced-apart membersassociated with the horizontal cylinder 24 so that the verticalspaced-apart members can thus engage the bottom surface of the lowermostcarton and support the entire stack as the horizontal spacedapartmembers are retracting.

In FIGURE 7 the horizontal cylinder 24 is shown as connected to amodified form of transfer platform having a base 48, which includes aplurality of spaced-apart members or fingers 47 extending horizontallytherefrom. The sides of these spaced-apart members support the entirestack of cartons as the piston 24 discharges the lowermost carton.However, once the lowermost carton has been discharged, the verticalcylinder 19 causes the spacedapart members associated therewith tointerleave with the horizontal spaced-apart members to engage and thussupport the stack.

The method of operation for the embodiment of FIG- URES 6 and 7 ispreferably in accordance with the preferred method concept as heretoforedescribed in detail having references to FIGURE 1 of the drawings.

In FIGURES 8 to 13 inclusive, we have shown a modified arrangement formechanically moving the closure flaps 12 into partially closed positionsto accommodate a next succeeding carton to be stacked on the advancecarton and move the closure flaps into closed positions, the nextsucceeding carton holding the flaps in closed positions by gravity tofacilitate the bonding of the closure flaps with the carton by theadhesive applied to the flaps.

As shown in FIGURE 8, a pair of laterally spaced posts 49 are pivotallymounted on each side of the com pression column 13 in vertical sockets51. The posts 49 extend upwardly of the sockets 51 and each post has acloser arm 52 engageable with a carton closure flap 12 for partiallyclosing the flap and a vertically spaced actuating arm 53 actuated bythe next succeeding carton traveling along the conveyor 10, for movingthe closer arm 53 out of the way of the advance carton to accommodatethe next succeeding carton to be stacked on the advance carton.

The modified form of flap closing means is shown in FIGURES 8 and 9 inan initial position with the closer arms 52 holding the closure flaps 12of an advance carton in a partially closed position. Tension springs 54are connected between upright frame members of the compression unit 13and pins 55 extending radially of the pivot posts 49 and bias the arms53 to extend over the discharge end of the conveyor 10.

As a carton 11 is moved by the conveyor for discharge on the top of anext preceding carton, the front wall of the carton will engage theactuating arms 53 and pivot said arms in a counterclockwise direction,as shown in FIGURES l0 and 11. As the carton is moved into position todrop onto the next advance carton, the carton will be advanced to aposition adjacent the end frame members of the compression column 13.During this travel of the carton the actuating arms 53 will come intoengagement with the side walls of the carton, pivoting the closer arms52 in counterclockwise directions outwardly of the carton closure flaps12, as shown in FIGURE 12. The carton may then drop onto the advancecarton and the stack of cartons may be lowered to accommodate thestacking of a next succeeding carton thereon. As the carton is loweredto a position Where the arms 53 are disposed above the top of thecarton, the tension spring 54 will move the actuating arms 53 inclockwise directions and maintain the closer arms 52 in engagement withthe side walls of the carton until the carton is lowered to a positionwhere these arms are above the top of the carton, at which time thesprings 54 will return the closer arms 52 to the position shown inFIGURES 8 and 9, holding "the flaps 12, 12 partially closed until thenext succeeding carton is advanced by the conveyor 10 to cam the closerarms 52, 52 away from the carton and to accommodate the dropping of anext succeeding carton thereon.

In the attached set of claims, the term panel should be interpreted toinclude a closure flap either integral or separate from the remainder ofthe carton.

It will be apparent that many modifications and variations of thepresent invention may be effected without departing from the scope ofthe novel concepts thereof.

We claim as our invention:

1. An article closing apparatus of the class described in which eacharticle has a panel associated therewith having adhesive applied theretofor adhesively securing said panel in a closed position, comprising:

substantially vertical guide means defining a substantially verticalchamber generally conforming to and confining a succession of articlesin a vertical stack, substantially vertically reciprocal means at thelower end of said chamber having an upper position and a lower positionand having an article support for engaging the lower one of a stack ofarticles in said guide means in said upper position of said reciprocalmeans and for lowering the stack of articles to position the lowermostarticle in a discharge position as said reciprocal means moves from itsupper position to its lower position, transfer means movable from aninitial position through said discharge position to move the lowermostarticle out of said discharge position and to a position out ofalignment with said chamber of said guide means, said transfer meansincluding:

support means for supporting a next lowermost article of said stackwhile said transfer means moves through said discharge position toaccommodate movement of said reciprocal means from said lower positionto said upper position so the next lowermost article is supported bysaid reciprocal means as said transfer means returns to its initialposition, and closer means for moving each panel into a closed positionas each article enters said guide means, to accommodate a nextsucceeding article to be supported on the panel of the preceding articleand facili' tate the creation of an adhesive bond between the panels andthe associated articles, by the weight of the articles thereon. 2. Thestructure of claim 1, wherein said closer means includes a source of airunder pressure and at least one air jet coupled to said source fordirecting the air against the successive panels as the successivearticles enter said guide means. 3. The structure of claim 2, whereinthe apparatus further includes initial-loading means for initiallyfilling said guide means with a given number of articles to form saidstack. 4. The structure of claim 1, wherein said closer means furtherincludes a mounting pivotally mounted at the top portion of said guidemeans to contact the panel of the top-most article to move thelast-mentioned panel toward the associated top-most article and tosubsequently rotate away from said last-mentioned panel as a subsequentarticle enters said guide means so that said last-mentioned panel ismoved into a closed position. 5. The structure of claim 4, wherein saidcloser means further includes at least one other arm actuated by saidsubsequent article as it passes to the stack of articles for rotatingthe firstmentioned arm to rotate away from the top-most article toaccommodate another article to be stacked thereon. 6. The structure ofclaim 5, wherein said closer means further includes a mounting postrotatably mounted at the top portion of said guide means and supportingsaid arms to extend radially therefrom over the path of travel of thecartons for transmitting rotational movement from said other arm to saidfirst-mentioned arm, and wherein a spring is connected to said post forcausing said post to return to an initial condition as a next succeedingarticle enters said guide means, 7. The structure of claim 1, wherein aconveyor is provided at the top of said vertical guide means forsuccessively supplying articles thereto, wherein laterally spaced guidessuccessively guide the articles from said conveyor to said verticalguide means, wherein the closer means includes a pivotally movablecloser arm and an upwardly and angularly spaced actuator arm therefordisposed adjacent each of said guides, vertical pivot shafts on eachside of said guides forming mountings for each set of closer actuatorarms, said arms extending radially inwardly from said shafts toward thecenter of said vertical guide 7 8 means and being angularly spaced toposition said ac- References Cited gl itgraalrns closer to said conveyorthan said closer UNITED STATES PATENTS wherein spring means bias saidshafts and arms to ex- 2,682,983 7/1954 Ashcroft 2148-5 X tend towardthe center of said vertical guide means, 5 2,912,806 11/1959 Bowman Xwhereby an article as discharged from said conveyor first 2,934,2214/1960 Tonna 2148-5 X engages said actuator arms and moves said actuatorarms 3,201,915 8/1965 Yanulaltls 53 374 in the direction of travel ofthe article to thereby move FOREIGN PATENTS said closer arms in the samedirection over an advance article, and then hold said closer arms out ofengagement 'th th t' 1 b t 'th m d rm 10 Y e 6 Y engageme e es C TRAVISs. MCGEHEE, Primary Examiner.

hole to accommodate the dropping of a next succeeding article thereon.R. L. FARRIS, Assistant Examiner.

929,432 6/1963 Great Britain.

